For the past year, I have had a ‘meager’ Early Bird task card bulletin at best!
Despite the size, the kids loved it! They often fought over who got a task card set. So, I decided to up the ante for next year. Yes, my new Early Bird Task Card board appears to be on steroids, lol!
My new board has a total of 20 task card sets–no more fighting! In addition, I dressed things up a bit so the board will be more organized!
Each task card set has it’s own number on the board. And, although it is not shown in the picture, each task card set has an Avery address label with a corresponding number on back of the last task card.
What about the hooks you might ask? Yes, I purchased small screw in hooks and screwed them directly into the bulletin board. While this may put a small hole in the bulletin board I am in it for the long haul…plus my board is in pretty rough shape anyway so I went for it. I chose the very smallest hooks I could find and let me tell you they work like an absolute charm!
The birds and leaves shown on both boards were purchased last summer. I did, however, opt to make my own tree limbs by simply twisting brown paper.
The 20 task card sets will remain up for the first semester. During that time, students will complete each set. Their answers will be recorded on a generic Early Bird task card recording sheet. Students will be required to score 75% or above to receive credit for having completed the set. Those scoring less, will have the opportunity to complete the set a second time. Results for the 20 sets will be recorded on a tracking sheet.
At the start of the 2nd semester, 20 new task card sets will replace the 1st semester cards and the process will begin again. Those successfully completing the 20 sets during a semester will be rewarded.
I have also toyed with assigning several students to be ‘bird watchers’. The ‘bird watchers’ will be responsible for grading any recording sheets that are turned in. This of course would be a rotating job. Answer keys are included with each of The Early Bird task card sets and I have mine all laminated, so
grading would be easy. The only thing that is keeping me from incorporating ‘bird watchers’ into the activity is that the ‘bird watcher’ will have access to the answers which would be VERY helpful when completing their own task card set. And, I like to have a look at how the students are doing on the work.
Several additional notes: Since my task cards all involve math, I make sure to have a large stack of scrap paper by the recording sheets. Students are required to show their work and staple it to the recording sheet. Since task cards are so versatile, I often pull sets off the board and use for whole class activities such as SCOOT. No one is going to suffer because they worked problems more than once, lol!
I hope this sparks your interest enough to set up an Early Bird board of your very own! Please visit my TpT store to get The Early Bird Bulletin Board Set-Up Kit which contains many of the materials I’ve talked about for free! Also, at my store, you will find over 80 Early Bird Task Card Sets.
